Opinion + Steven D Levitt and Stephen J Dubner | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/commentisfree+books/steven-d-levitt-and-stephen-j-dubner
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The hubris of the economists laid bare: a cautionary tale about quirky overconfidence | Editorialhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/29/guardian-view-on-freakonomics-quirky-charming-too-ambitious
Freakonomics was fun and offered new insights. But its tone of certainty was misleading<p>It began with a question: what do teachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? It ended in a phenomenon. When <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2005/jul/24/society1" title="">Freakonomics</a> (and its all-important subtitle: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything) was published 10 years ago, it became much bigger than a bestseller – the book of quirky questions with answers drawn from economics signalled nothing less than a cultural change. It sold millions in the first year alone, was translated into more than 30 languages and got turned into a film. Its authors, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/15/freakonomics-10-years-on-stephen-dubner-steven-levitt-interview" title="">economist Steven Levitt and journalist Stephen Dubner</a>, have spent the following decade writing enough follow-ups to sustain a franchise: <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/nov/14/superfreakonomics-levitt-dubner-book-review" title="">Superfreakonomics</a>, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/may/15/think-like-a-freak-freakonomics-levitt-dubner-review" title="">Think Like a Freak</a>… the latest, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/24/when-to-rob-a-bank-freakopedia-levitt-dubner-digested-read" title="">When To Rob a Bank</a>, is out this month and surprises mainly by not having freak in its title. Not a bad harvest for a work of micro-economics, co-written by a university academic. And – here’s where a commercial triumph turns into a cultural turn – soon every publisher felt it needed a Freakonomics equivalent, or 17.</p><p>Before Levitt and Dubner, the work in America of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/nov/22/leaders-and-reply-malcolm-gladwell" title="">popularising big ideas</a> had fallen almost solely on the slim shoulders of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/sep/29/malcolm-gladwell-david-and-goliath-interview" title="">Malcolm Gladwell</a>. After them, it became a boom industry. Readers have spent most of the past decade surfing a wave of titles proffering social-science research to help navigate life. The Why Axis: Hidden Motives and the Undiscovered Economics of Everyday Life; Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape our Decisions… further references are available on your nearest table&nbsp;of three-for-two offers.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/29/guardian-view-on-freakonomics-quirky-charming-too-ambitious">Continue reading...</a>EconomicsSteven D Levitt and Stephen J DubnerBooksEconomicsBusinessUS newsWorld newsFri, 29 May 2015 18:06:48 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/29/guardian-view-on-freakonomics-quirky-charming-too-ambitiousPhotograph: REXPhotograph: REXEditorial2015-05-29T18:06:48ZFreakonomics without the facts | Kate Sheppardhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/oct/23/superfreakonomics-climate-change-levitt-dubner
Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner's bogus claims on climate change have riled up scientists. Maybe that was the point<p>I thought I had read enough about <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/oct/12/freakonomics-global-warming-statistics">Superfreakonomics</a> and its horrifyingly ignorant chapter on climate change to prepare myself for the actual text. But nothing could prepare me for the assault on science, logic and the English language that is this excerpt.</p><p>Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner managed to pull together just over 43 pages on science they clearly don't understand, with contradictory assumptions, clichés and gimmicky analogies. The chapter reads like a student term paper, a compilation of various factoids accumulated over the semester but displaying no real grasp of the subject matter. The logical leaps between sentences and at times bizarre sentence structure make me wonder if they actually farmed this chapter out to an undergraduate.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/oct/23/superfreakonomics-climate-change-levitt-dubner">Continue reading...</a>Steven D Levitt and Stephen J DubnerClimate changeClimate changeClimate change scepticismEnvironmentBooksGreenhouse gas emissionsUS newsWorld newsFri, 23 Oct 2009 09:30:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/oct/23/superfreakonomics-climate-change-levitt-dubnerPhotograph: Michael Scott Berman/RapportFreakonomics and Super Freakonomics co-authors Steven Levitt (blond hair) and Stephen Dubner (dark hair). Photograph: Michael Scott Berman/RapportPhotograph: Michael Scott Berman/RapportFreakonomics and Super Freakonomics co-authors Steven Levitt (blond hair) and Stephen Dubner (dark hair). Photograph: Michael Scott Berman/RapportKate Sheppard2009-10-23T09:30:00ZSuper freaking wrong | Brad Johnsonhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/oct/21/superfreakonomics-climate-change-book-science
Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner's new book promotes a contrarian view of climate change that has no scientific merit<p>Superfreakonomics is a super freaking mess. US publisher Harper Collins promotes the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/oct/12/freakonomics-global-warming-statistics">sequel</a> to the pop-economics bestseller <a href="http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/">Freakonomics</a>, authored by economist Steven Levitt and journalist Stephen Dubner, as "bigger, <a href="http://www.harpercollins.ca/books/9781554686087/SuperFreakonomics/index.aspx">more provocative</a>, and sure to challenge the way we think all over again". Too often, however, the book provokes by just getting things wrong – including matters involving life and death.</p><p>Levitt and Dubner begin by arguing that if you're intoxicated, "driving is safer than walking" – based <a href="http://www.howwedrive.com/2009/10/07/friends-dont-let-friends-walk-drunk/">not on actual research</a> but on "<a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/10/the_shoddy_statistics_of_super.html">shoddy statistical work</a>". The authors <a href="http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/book_extracts/article6879237.ece">boast about their time</a> spent interviewing <a href="http://jezebel.com/5385667/superfreakonomics-authors-ask-why-arent-more-women-prostitutes">a $500-an-hour call girl</a>, describing her as "<a href="http://echidneofthesnakes.blogspot.com/2009_10_01_archive.html#8795124789977907021">essentially a trophy wife who is rented by the hour</a>", while getting <a href="http://bestofbothworlds.blogspot.com/2009/10/freaky-gurls.html">the economics and history of prostitution</a> wrong. But the most serious concerns are raised by their treatment of climate change.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/oct/21/superfreakonomics-climate-change-book-science">Continue reading...</a>Steven D Levitt and Stephen J DubnerClimate changeClimate changeClimate change scepticismEnvironmentUS newsWorld newsBooksWed, 21 Oct 2009 20:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/oct/21/superfreakonomics-climate-change-book-scienceBrad Johnson2009-10-21T20:00:00Z